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Olympics/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, in history; we are learning about the Olympics. Can you give me some facts? From, Coolkid. Tim is with Moby who holds the Olympic flame and is dressed in a Greek toga. TIM: Well, the modern Olympic games have a long history behind them. The ancient Olympic games were held every four years during the hottest days of summer. An animation shows Greek women walking around the open columns of a façade in the sun. TIM: There were a lot fewer competitions than we see today. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right, it wasn't on TV then. The ancient Olympics started out as a religious festival dedicated to the supreme Greek god, Zeus. An image shows Zeus. TIM: The first games in seven seventy-six BCE had just one contest, the footrace, and there weren't any gold or silver medals. The winner just received an olive branch. Tim holds an olive branch. An image shows a symbol of a runner. TIM: Over the years new contests popped up, like the javelin, jumping, running, discus, wrestling, equestrian events, and boxing. Images shows symbols for these sports. TIM: In six eighty BCE, the chariot race was added. An animation shows a horse-drawn chariot. TIM: Sacrifices were made to the gods during competition, and all fighting was put on hold to preserve the purity of the games. When the Romans conquered Greece, the Olympic games took a turn for the worse. An animation shows Roman soldiers holding weapons. TIM: Slaves were pitted against wild animals, and the games sort of lost their noble meaning. A scared-looking slave wearing only a cloth and armed with a knife faces two lions. TIM: They were abolished in the year three ninety-three of the Common Era. The slave-facing-the-lions event disappears. TIM: The modern Olympic Games were revived in eighteen ninety-four by the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin. An image shows Pierre de Coubertin. TIM: The eighteen ninety-six games were held in Athens, Greece, and Tom Burke of the United States won the very first event, the one hundred-meter dash, in twelve and a half seconds. An animation shows Tom Burke raising his arms and jumping on the first place winner's podium. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, humans have gotten faster. As of twenty eleven, the record for the one hundred-meter dash is nine point five eight seconds. The Olympic games kept on growing. In nineteen twenty, there were twenty-nine nations represented. An image shows twenty-nine figures representing twenty-nine nations. TIM: In nineteen twenty-four, that number rose to forty-four. The image shows forty-four figures. TIM: Nineteen twenty-four was also the year that the Winter Olympics were officially added. The Alps town of Chamonix was planning a winter sports festival in the same year that Paris was set to host the Olympics. An image shows Chamonix. TIM: The Marquis de Polignac asked the International Olympic Committee to recognize that festival as the Winter Olympic Games, and they agreed. An image shows the Marquis addressing the International Olympic Committee. TIM: Sports like speed skating, ice hockey, and skiing became Olympic games. An animation shows a skier skiing down a mountain. Images show symbols for the sports Tim names. TIM: Sixteen countries competed in the first winter Olympics. By the two thousand six Winter Olympics, eighty nations were participating. The animation shows sixteen figures representing sixteen countries, then many more figures representing eighty countries. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, that's true. Women weren't allowed to officially compete in the original Olympics, or even in the first year of the modern Olympics. That changed in nineteen hundred, when women's events were added in the sports of lawn tennis and golf, and women were allowed to compete with men in sailing. Swiss yachtswoman Hélène de Pourtalès, British tennis player Charlotte Cooper, and American golfer Margaret Abbott were the first three women to win Olympic gold medals. Images show the women Olympic athletes Tim names. TIM: Today, women earn almost as many medals as men. In the two thousand eight Summer Games, they competed in thirty-three different sports. The Olympic flame was introduced in nineteen twenty-eight, and the first torch relay took the flame from Athens to Berlin in nineteen thirty-six. An image shows the Olympic flame and then a map. A dotted line on the map traces the route from Athens to Berlin. TIM: Each time the Olympic Games are held, the torch is lit in Greece. According to tradition, a parabolic mirror is used to reflect sunlight and light the torch. An animation shows the torch being lit in Greece. TIM: Once lit, it begins a journey to whatever city is hosting the Olympics that year. A world map shows pop-ups of a Japanese building, a kangaroo in Australia, the Eiffel Tower in front of the French flag, and the Statue of Liberty in front of the U.S. flag. TIM: The Olympic flame burns throughout competition and is extinguished at the end of the closing ceremonies. These days the Olympics symbolize brotherhood and sisterhood. An image shows men and women from around the world holding hands. TIM: The five Olympic rings and six colors of the Olympic flag symbolize the fact that the Olympics are open to athletes from all parts of the world, of any color and nationality. An image shows the Olympic interlocking rings logo. TIM: Olympics are a way to promote the friendship of nations, along with physical and mental excellence. It's the ultimate honor for an athlete to win an Olympic medal. An image shows the gold, a silver medal and a bronze Olympic medal. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Athletes train for years to win those medals, Moby. Besides, what sport would you compete in? An animation shows Moby facing off with two lions. TIM: They don't do that animal thing anymore. MOBY: Beep. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts